Ali Riza Dogan, owner of Ali Baba Mediterranean Cuisine in Manhattan, has apparently never heard the phrase "not my problem." Because for the last five or six years, every single Wednesday night, he's been heading to Chinatown to personally serve warm meals to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.
Rain, snow, or whatever fresh hell the NYC weather decides to unleash, Ali is there. "Between 7th and 8th Avenue, doesn't matter how cold, rain, doesn't make a difference," he told Today. "Every Wednesday night, we give them food around eight o'clock." Which, if you think about it, is a pretty consistent commitment for a guy who also runs a restaurant.
But a hot meal is only half the battle when the temperatures drop. Ali also understands the brutal reality of having nowhere safe to sleep. So, he keeps the doors of Ali Baba open overnight on cold nights, inviting people in with a simple sign: "You can stay inside. The heat is on overnight."
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Start Your News DetoxHe shares updates on his mission via social media, because apparently, some good news can go viral. In one Instagram post, he laid it out plain: "Please never forget…One plate of food means one human life. Every meal you enjoy at Alibaba becomes a warm meal for someone in need—or the homeless and immigrants." He then added the kind of line that makes you pause: "We don't see this as charity…We see it as humanity."
Unsurprisingly, people have been moved. One commenter from Canada even vowed to visit his restaurant on their next trip to NYC, specifically asking if they could help serve dinner on a Wednesday. Because sometimes, all it takes is one person deciding to make a difference for others to want to join in.
